GIRLS' VOLLEYBALL STATE PLAYOFFS

La Habra Buckles Down, Beats Sanger

The fourth-seeded La Habra girls' volleyball team beat Sanger, 16-14, 15-4, 15-13, Tuesday in La Habra to advance to the quarterfinals in the state Division II girls' volleyball playoffs.

Keao Burdine had a match-high 20 kills and Suzanne Andrade and Candace Galvan had 12 each as the Highlanders (20-1) swept the Apaches.

"We are a championship team," La Habra Coach Troy Abbey said. "We were playing for a sense of pride tonight."

The Highlanders' balanced attack kept the Apaches (19-11) in disarray. Amanda Siler had 20 assists and Rachelle Suehoff notched 11, as La Habra spread the ball around its offense.

The first game gave La Habra a scare, as the Apaches took the lead, 7-4. Siler answered with three consecutive kills as the Highlanders proceeded to hold off Sanger.

La Habra took command in the second set as Burdine, a sophomore, had eight kills. Galvan added four kills for the Highlanders.

The Apaches made a late run in the third game after falling behind, 9-3, but three late blocks from Sarah Ramm gave the Highlanders the momentum to put the game away. Ramm finished with a match-high seven blocks.

La Habra will play top-seeded Santa Margarita at 7:00 p.m. Saturday at Santa Margarita High School.